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Rare embroidered Apollo 1 mission patch deriving from the personal collection of original Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton. The patch measures 3.5″ in diameter and includes the original "Stylized Emblem Co." label, which is detached but present. Includes a signed letter of provenance from Bobbie Slayton, dated July 23, 2005, in full: "This is to certify that this Apollo 1 crew patch belonged to my husband, Deke Slayton, and was given to him by Gus Grissom. It was locked in his safe deposit box along with other space memorabilia. This patch is genuine in all respects." In fine condition. Accompanied by an official NASA inspection card for the “Apollo Flight Crew Emblem,” which lists part number “ACS 204,” date “Sept. 19, 1966,” quantity “15,” and manufacturing date, "Aug. 1966.” From one Mercury astronaut to another, this is a highly coveted original Apollo 1 mission patch—examples of such were only distributed to the crew and a few NASA workers.
The approval for the Apollo 1 patch design had been withdrawn seven days before the fire in a memo from George Low to Deke Slayton. This was because consideration was being given to changing the flight number and no longer calling it Apollo 1. After the fire, the wives of the crew asked Low if he would reinstate the patch as the official crew patch. He agreed.
